Names
by julia0213
Summary: Saphira wonders what she is, and discovers her identity.


Names

I had been practicing. I had been listening to partner-of-my-mind-and-heart talk to his nestmate and his sire, heard how they addressed him and learned how to speak it. _Er-oh-gohn. _I thought, and then shook my head. It didn't sound the same. _Er-ah-gahn._ There! Perfect! Partner-of-my-heart-Eragon will be so proud of me, learning to speak on my own. And I'm only a moon old, too! I felt him call me with his mind. Eager to show him my new skill, I raced the blow-in-my-face-wind to where he was calling me. I landed, but before I could speak, he did. A flow of images raced into my mind, and from said images, one concept was communicated. Eragon was leaving. Upset, I snorted at him. Why did partner-of-my-mind want to leave? Eragon showed him going to the nearby–many-houses-many-people-village. _Oh… _I thought. He is going to the village. I whipped my tail, even that was too far away. Eragon sent me images of peace, and patted me. Suddenly, I remembered that I wanted to show him what I learned!

_Eragon _I said. Eragon stared at me, seemingly not understanding. Maybe I should try again.

_Eragon_ I repeated. Eragon was emitting a new scent now. I wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed familiar. Suddenly, Eragon jumped up, and started to chase-prey-mustn't-stop-run back to his nest. Confused, I called out once more.

_Eragon._ He kept running. I inhaled and realized what the scent was. Fear. I remembered fly-similar-me-birds and run-fast-rabbits and small-borrow-mice smelling the same before I ate them. Why would Eragon be afraid of me? He has visited me many times before, and was never afraid then! Was a name something to be afraid of? Then why wouldn't he have been afraid when his sire and nestmate spoke it? Crestfallen, I flew away to my favorite tree and perched there, brooding. Maybe Eragon hates me… No, if he hated me, why would he visit me? There must be an explanation… I heard a single-note-hunt-howl tear through the air below me. Curious, I flew lower. Several fur-fang-claws were below me. I had never seen this creature before, and I didn't have a name for it. Most were grey, but some were brown, or black, or even white. They looked similar to the dogs that Eragon- no, thinking of him is too unbearable. Similar to the dogs that nestmate-Roran had. These creatures were much bigger, however. And they had huge fangs and claws. _Humph._ I thought, _still no match for a daughter-of-wind-and-earth like me! _Silly creatures, they were trying to climb the tree. Jumping, clawing, barking, and whimpering, they seemed to be trying to hunt me. Amused, I gave a short roar. The bigger-than-dogs went crazy. I started laughing, and one of my wings hooked the tree. I fell down, and landed behind the dogs. With a small howl of excitement, they jumped toward me. Panicked, I slashed at them with my claws, but my moon-old nails were not equipped for this. I jumped straight up and opened my wings and flew off into the tree. Disappointed, the scary-teeth-deaths ran off into the woods in search of better eat-to-survive-prey. I blew some smoke, irritated. _I wonder what those things were called._ They must have a name; there was a whole feed-together-sleep-together-Pack. _Hmm…_ _Maybe I shall ask Eragon when he returns… If he returns…_ I shook my head, and tried to think of other things. There is an entire Pack of large-dog-deaths, but there is only one of me. Does that mean that I am a nothing? A lone nothing, doomed to die alone? I shuddered. Even if the dogs were dumb beasts, at least they had others who looked, ate, and walked like them. I am alone… Dismayed, I wailed at the rising moon. Alone! And now that breaker-of-my-heart-Eragon has deserted me, I am doomed to be alone forever! No! I am here, and all things must have a sire and a mother. There must have been others like me, somewhere… All I remember before hatching is darkness… A very long-lasting darkness… Does that mean that all of my kin are dead? Died, while I had not even been hatched? Maybe… No! I flew, farther than I've ever flown before, while to moon set behind me. Tired, I landed and slept in the tree…

The next morning, my head was a little clearer. _I am NOT alone. Eragon had never heard me speak, so he must have been startled… _But that didn't quite convince me. I flew back to the sleep-Eragon-visit-shelter, which took until sunhigh. I stepped into the sunlight, my blue scales glittering dazzling in the sunlight. _If there is no one else like me, _I thought, _At least I am the most beautiful creature in all of Alagaësia…_ I shook my head. That was so vain of me to say that… I heard footsteps approaching. I inhaled and it was partner-of-my-mind-Eragon! He approached warily, though. _Oh, come on! I'm not going to bite you!_ I thought.

_Eragon_ I said.

"Is that all you can say?" Eragon snapped. I narrowed my eyes. How dare he be cross with me, after what he put me through?

_Yes_ I replied, a sparkle of amusement in my eyes, and his eyes widened. _Didn't expect that, did you?_ I thought. He broke a dead branch with his walk-on-foot. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings. I sent a questioning thought at him. Eragon started to rant about his nestmate leaving. I didn't recognize many of the words he used, so I stored them in my head as vocabulary. Eventually he was yelling. I just watched him impassively, until he said, "I don't want him to go, that's all." He looked so sad… Like me, last night. His next words caught me by surprise.

"You need a name"

I almost wriggled in delight! I would no longer be a nothing!

"What do you think of Vanilor or his successor, Eridor? Both were great dragons." _Eragon is being silly_, I thought. _Those are male names! I am a female, a daughter-of-the-wind!_ His other word I liked better. Dragon. _Is that what I am? A dragon? _When I thought of the name another name popped into my head. Skulblaka. It seemed right, somehow. _I am a dragon, and I am a Skulblaka. _I thought satisfied. But I needed to tell Eragon that those names just are not acceptable.

_No._ _Eragon. _I said, trying to not have to tell him the obvious.

"That's _my_ name, you can't have it." He mumbled.

_I don't want it, _I thought,_ that's a males name too! _He started listing many male names, so, of course, I disapproved all of them.

"That's the problem! I've been choosing male names. You are a she!"

_Finally!_ I thought, but I only said: _Yes._ And folded my wings. Eragon seemed to be really thinking now. Eventually, he asked, "Are you Saphira?" Something seemed to click in my head. The name fit perfectly.

_Yes. _I told him, and started to hum. I am Saphira. I am Saphira, and I am NOT a nothing. I am the dragon Saphira!

Wrote this a looong time ago. So the writing is bad :/


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